One Month Later
by shektor
Summary: Based around a month after Po defeats Tai Lung. This is a revised version of my original story "After Tai Lung is defeated". If you liked that, I hope you will like this even better. Read & Review.
1. Chapter 1

I open my eyes for about the hundredth time after I fail to fall asleep. All around me is pitch black. I just lay here motionless, listening to everyone moving around in their sleep. The rest of the Five are pretty quiet, they don't move around in their sleep like he does. I just lay here thinking about him. There I go again, somehow my mind always seems to travel back to him. He's all I can think about. For the last week now, all I have on my mind is him. I wake up thinking about him, while I train I think about him, during meals I think about him and oh yes, you guessed it, while I sleep I think about him. And then I wake up again, the day being the same as the day before. I feel across to my lamp and turn it on. Slowly, I sit up on my bed and reach for my diary. Opening to the latest entry, I begin reading.  
Dear diary I have been thinking about him again. I can't seem to get him off my mind. For the past week, all I can think about is him. Every time I'm in the same room as him, I get all shy. I have never felt anything like this before. I have heard of it happening to others, but I always told myself that men were a waste of time, that my training was always my first priority. But he just makes that belief seem wrong.  
I close the diary and put it back in my desk drawer. Feeling tired, I lie back down on my bed. Slowly, my eyes begin to close and I begin drifting off to sleep. As I have come to expect lately, my dream is bound to have him in it.

Dream Sequence  
All of a sudden I'm at the Thread of Hope with the rest of the Furious Five. Looking across the first bridge, I see Tai Lung skid to a halt. Then, without a second thought he charges across the bridge. Realizing we won't be able to stop him in hand to hand on the edge of this cliff, I yell to the others 'Cut it". The five all cut one rope each as I watch Tai Lung. But by that time, Tai Lung had already made it halfway across the bridge. He leaps up towards me and just before he has a chance to land, I leap up and kick him backwards. The rest of the Five quickly grab the ropes that they cut to hold it up while I hold off Tai Lung. Tai Lung grabs the bridge and spins around it once before landing on the wooden planks while I just land straight onto the bridge keeping myself in fighting stance in case he attacks first. Tai Lung, however, just casually stands there talking, trying to get me to lower my guard or to attack first. "Where is the dragon warrior?" "How do you know you're not looking at her" "I know you're not the dragon warrior" as he looks at me, then looking past me and toward the five "none of you" " I heard how he fell out of the air on a ball of fire. That he's a warrior unlike anything the world has ever seen" Without realizing, Monkey reveals Po's name to Tai Lung. "So that is his name, Po" "Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary" I knew Tai Lung's intentions with Po, he was going to kill him, and as long as I was alive, I wasn't going to let him try. Growling, I lunge forward to try and defeat Tai Lung as quick as possible. After he blocks some of my punches and I block his, I manage to grab him by the neck with my feet and throw him over the side of the bridge. Just as quickly, Tai Lung grabs hold of the rope and swings himself up into the sky. As he is coming back down, just as I see him ready to attack, the sun gets in my eyes, so I flip the bridge over to avoid his attack. He lands on the bridge and, after breaking through some of the boards, we begin another fight with me kicking him while holding onto the bridge and him blocking and punching at me. He eventually manages to grab hold of my ankle and pull me off the bridge. Just before he can let go, I reach around and grab hold of his arm pulling myself back to the bridge. Now, both Tai Lung and I are holding unto the underside of the bridge exchanging kicks. Again, he manages to gain the advantage and kicks me up through some of the wooden planks. Jumping up through the hole, he kicks me backwards breaking most of the planks. Before I can get ready for his next attack, he flips the bridge over a few times, which wraps around my throat and chokes me. As I'm trying to get free, Viper slithers in front of Tai Lung and flicks him in the face, making him let go of the ropes choking me. After the ropes unravel from around my neck, I fall down before I can grab the bridge. Just as I fall into the mist, I feel Crane grab my arm and fly back up out of the mist. I look over to Tai Lung just in time to see Monkey kick him backwards. Tai Lung gets back up and begins running towards Monkey and Viper. "Mantis" Understanding what I want him to do, he shakes the remaining bridge ropes and, while Monkey and Viper both knew to jump up, knocks Tai Lung backwards. "Now" Crane drops me onto the bridge and everyone(minus Mantis) charges towards Tai Lung. Just as he manages to stand back straight up, Monkey swings up from the hope and kicks him backwards. He stands back up again only to be hit backwards by Viper. Then, Crane flies in, kicks Tai Lung up into the air and wraps him up with a rope. To finish off, I jump up onto Crane's back and jump toward Tai Lung hitting him with an open palm strike before landing on the rope and cutting it. After grabbing onto the rope, Mantis pulls all of us back onto the cliff edge. Just before we turn to leave, I look back at the bridge holding Tai Lung up to see it swinging around the pillar. The rope swings forward and just after it gets out of the mist, Tai Lung has disappeared. Just as quickly, Tai Lung lands behind us. "Shifu taught you well" He quickly strikes Monkey with nerve attack. "But he didn't teach you everything" Before we even had a chance to defend ourselves, Tai Lung had us all paralysed. Tai Lung walks over to me, stands me up near the edge. I didn't have to look behind me to know what he was planning on doing. Just as he is about to push me over the edge, I see a hand pull Tai Lung backwards. Tai Lung flips over my rescuer. And I see who it is...Po. He looks back at me and smiles, then turns back to face Tai Lung. Tai Lung charges at Po and Po brings his arm forward into Tai Lung, Tai Lung flies far back and hits a tree. Shifu comes out next to me and pulls me away from the edge, then unparalysed me and the rest of the Five. "Tigress, you stay and help Po if he needs it. The rest of you, we are going back to the Jade Palace" I looked away for a few seconds and they were gone. "Ok. That was weird" I think out loud. I look over to Po and he had Tai Lung in the Wuxi Finger Hold. "Skadoosh" A huge gold energy ripple moves past me. I look away, then I look back to see only Po. Tai Lung is nowhere to be seen. Po walks over to me. "Thank you for saving me Po" Po doesn't say anything, he just slowly moves closer to me. He moves closer so his body is pressed up against mine. I look up into his eyes and see he is already looking into mine. I see him slowly bring his lips forward to meet mine. I close my eyes just as we're about to kiss. Just before we kiss, I open my eyes to find that I'm back in my room. "It was just a dream" I hear footsteps coming near the Sleeping Halls and i quickly get up and get dressed for my usual day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning master" I say in unison with the rest of the Five. "He's been here for over a month now and he still cant get up on time" says shifu as he walks over to Po's room. "Po. Get up" Shifu slam the doors open to find the room empty. "Where is he?" Shifu turns to me. "I don't know where he is. Maybe he's in the kitchen" "That is most likely where he is. Students, you can go to have breakfast if Po has cooked it" I watch as everyone walks off to the kitchen. I stay behind with Master Shifu. "Master" Shifu turns and looks up at me. "Yes Tigress. Is something wrong?" "No Master, nothing is wrong. I was just wondering if I can go study the remaining scrolls that I haven't mastered yet?" "Of course you can. How many do you have left?" "I have mastered scroll 989 Master" Master Shifu eye twitches(like in the movie)."That many? Already? You might just beat Tai Lung's record" "Really? How many days do I have left?" "You have three weeks exactly. Tai Lung finshed two days before the upcoming festival" With an explainable determination forming in me, I ran to the Sacred Hall Of Warriors. "I will tell Po you won't be having breakfast" I hear Shifu say as I make it outside. I make it to the Hall, rushing past the Moon Pool to the thousand scrolls. I scan quickly through the shelves to find scrolls 990-1000. "Finally" I yell to myself as I find the scrolls. I delicately pull out scroll 990. "Soon I'll learn nerve strike" I slowly begin to unroll the scroll.

Meanwhile in the kitchen

As Mantis, Crane, Monkey and Viper enter the kitchen, Po turns around, balancing three bowls on his arm and holding one in his hand. "Hey guys" Just as soon as they had sat in their chairs, he wondered out aloud, "Where's Tigress?" The Five look at each other, having just realised that Tigress wasn't there. At that moment, Master Shifu appears at the doorway. "Tigress is studying in the Hall Of Sacred Warriors" "She's still studying the thousand scrolls" Po says, more as a question though than a statement. Master Shifu takes his seat at the table. He started doing this a few days after Po had defeated Tai Lung. At first, his students were shocked by it, but eventually got used to it. "Here's your breakfast Master" "Thank you Po" "Am I allowed to go give Tigress her breakfast Master?" "I think you should just leave her alone to study" After Po had handed the bowl to Shifu, he quickly grabbed a bowl he had prepared off the bench and rushes past Shifu before he even had a chance to stop him.

Back at the Hall of Warriors

"Finally, I have have made it to the last ten scrolls of kung fu" I say to myself as I finish opening the scroll. "I always knew you would make it" Po says, somehow having managed to sneak up on Tigress. "Po" I half yell as I turn around, accidentely dropping the scroll. Po sees this and just strikes his hand out and grabs the scroll before it hits the ground. He hands me back the scroll. We just stood there for what seemed like forever, until he spoke that is. "I made this for you" He hands me a bowl, I wasn't sure what was in it, but it smelled delicious. "What is it?" "It's peach porridge. I thought you might like it" I take a mouthful. "Po. This is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted" "Really?" "Yes, I love it. Thank you" I lean forwards and hug him, then I look up into his eyes and see he is looking into mine. Slowly I lean towards him and he leans as well. Our lips are just centimetres apart. Just as we're about to kiss, the doors to the hall open and Po pulls away. "There you both are" I recognise the voice. Master Shifu walks over to us. "What are you doing here Po? Tigress is trying to study. Out now." "I'll thank you for the porridge later" I smile at Po while Shifu isn't looking. Shifu and Po leave the hall. I get back to my scroll.  
Hours later I walk to the entrance of the Sleeping Hall. I walk to my room, dodging the noisy boards. I make it to my room and upon opening my door, I find a note on my bed. I pick it up and read it. "Dear Tigress. We need to talk about what happened earlier, I'll be at the peach tree before the gong strikes in the morning. Goodnight"

A/N Hey readers. School is staring again soon and I need to start my holiday homework, I know I should have done it sonner but oh well. Anyway, I'm going to be busy for awhile, so I won't be able to work on the next chapter. I wish this chapter was longer, but I have too much to get done. Until next time. 


	3. Chapter 3

I lay here in my bed, unable to sleep. What will happen at the peach tree? Should I go or just pretend I slept in? Eventually I made up my mind and got out of bed. Slowly I made my way out of the Sleeping Halls and over to the peach tree. From a distance I can see Po sitting there facing out over the valley, as I get closer, he notices my presence and offers a seat next to him without turning around. I walk over and sit down next to Po. He then turns and faces me. "Tigress, I want to talk about yesterday" "Why did you have to have such beautiful eyes?" "What?" "Umm...nothing. Don't worry. What did you say?" "Yeah ok. Yesterday. I want to know what was about to happen" I sigh, knowing my next move will determine everything. "Close your eyes and I'll show you" Confused and cautious, Po slowly closed his eyes. "This is it" Being sure I whisper to myself this time. I lean forward, wondering if this is best, then finally my lips meet his. He opened his eyes, shocked, but doesn't pull away and instead closes his eyes again and leans into the kiss. Minutes pass, when finally we pull apart, just gazing into each others eyes. I look past Po and see Master Shifu walking towards the student halls. Once he passes and is out of earshot, I begin to panic. "What are we goning to do? This is bad. Very bad." Po manages to get ahold of my shoulders and turn me to him. "I have a plan. Follow me." Without a second thought, I follow after Po as he drags me off away from the Sleeping Halls. We arrive at our destination...the kitchen. Quickly, Po starts cooking some things. " Quick, make it look like you know what you're doing." Immediately, I turn to the nearest cupboard and pull out some ingredients, with no clue what I'm doing at all. In the distance, I hear the gong go off and in my head the chorus of "Good morning Master" that I should have been a part of. Po helps me put some ingredients and gives me pointers on which ingredients go good with other ingredients. I manage to pick things up quickly. As predicted,  
Master Shifu storms into the kitchen at last. "Po. Do you know where Tigress.." He doesn't finish his sentence before realising that I was in the kitchen. "I apologise Master. Po was just teaching me some things about cooking." By then, the rest of the Five had reached the doorway and all had their jaws dropped in shock. Finally Master Shifu spoke up. "That is ok, Tigress" The others shuffle into the kitchen and I see Mantis hand some money over to Monkey sneakily, with Mantis not looking happy about it. Breakfast goes by at slower than usual speed, with people commenting that my soup was not quite as good as Po's after Po claimed that I had made it. Po tried not to let that comment affect him, but I saw worry flash across his face. After breakfast finished at last, Master Shifu had us gather in the training court instead of in the Training Hall as usual. We all made our way to the courts, Po and I unciouslly walked together, and that didn't go unnoticed by Viper. "Today we will be sparring. The first match will be Monkey and Mantis." Monkey and Mantis prepare themselves. Master Shifu clicks his fingers, signaling the start of the match and Mantis rushes towards Monkey. Monkey dodges and then leaps towards Mantis. Mantis jumps on a backward angle, then jumps forward onto Monkey's back and down to his feet. He grabs hold of one of Monkey's ankles and throws him forward. Monkey lands on his hands and flips back to his feet unharmed. Mantis attempts to dive between Monkey's feet, but Monkey grabs him and holds him down to the ground until Master Shifu declares him the winner. After Monkey holds Mantis for a few moments, Master Shifu signals the match is over. Monkey releases Mantis, and both stand back in line. "Next match will be..." We all wait in anticipation. "Crane and Viper" Both Masters walk over to the arena edges while Monkey and Mantis make their way off to the side. Once both Crane and Viper are ready, Master Shifu once again clicks his fingers and the fight begins. As a first move, Crane creates a gust of wind to temporarily blind Viper. While she is recovering, Crane quickly flies behind her and grabs her by her neck, or where her neck would be, and holds her to the ground. Viper retaliates by wrapping her tail around Crane's legs, which causes him to trip over. Using this to her advantage, Viper wraps herself around Crane's wings and neck. After holding Crane in this position for a few moments, Master Shifu ends the match and declares Viper the winner. "And finally, Tigress will fight against Po." By the time the third match had begun, the sun had already started to set. While Tigress and Po walk past Crane and Viper, Viper manages to send a look to Tigress. A look that Tigress correctly understood as "we need to talk". And viper only ever wants to talk about girly things. "I'll have to worry about that later. Right now I have to figure out what I'm gonna do."Ready. Begin." Po looked at me with unease, a look that asked "What do we do?" I give Po a return look, he nods and drops into his fighting stance, Dragon Style. I run towards him and leap forwards, faking a downwards punch that Po blocks with incredibile speed, I manage to knock him sidewards with a solid kick. Po slides along the ground, still on his feet trying to keep his balance. I run after him right after I kicked him, attepmting to get another hit in, only he is ready this time,  
and defends against my attack, time and time again. every punch I throw or kick I swing, Po manages to easily defend himself. The fight drags on longer than the previous matches. I put most of my energy into my attacks and I'm starting to feel the effects, while Po appears as if he only just started fighting. I summon all my remaining energy and run towards Po, sending every punch and kick combination I can think of towards him. During my last kick, he grabs my leg,  
swings me around and throws me into the air. At this point, I'm too low on energy to have defended myself, and Po jumps up into the air, travelling upwards right next to me. All I can do is watch as Po turns in mid-air and kicks me down on an angle straight into the arena walls. The entire wall cracks around me,  
and I get stuck pretty tight. Po lands down near the wall, dropping back into his fighting stance. I manage to pry myself from the hole in the wall, and stand looking towards everyone, everyone looking blurry and out of focus. I take a few small weak steps towards Po, when everything begins turning black. Darkness begins creeping in from the sides of my vision. The last thing I see is Po's face as I look towards him when the darkness fully consumes my vision, and I feel my body go loose and my legs give out from underneath me before I hit the ground. All I can hear are frantic cries of my name before I lose conciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

I look around and see that I'm not at the Jade Palace anymore, I'm not anywhere anymore. All around me is just pure white stretching for as far as the eye can see,  
except for a small black dot off in the distance. With nothing to walk to, I set off towards the dot, which slowly got bigger as I got closer. And the closer I got,  
the more detail I saw. It appeared to be a city, and judging on a scale, it would be a very giant city when I get there. After a few hours walking, or what felt like hours, the sun didn't move at all the whole time. That's when I looked up to the sky, there was no clouds or sun, everything was just lit up with no shadows anywhere. I finally made it to the city gates, and the guards took notice of me as I approached. They raised their weapons as I neared. "Put your weapons down. Do you know who I am? I'm Master Tigress of the Jade Palace..." As soon as I had said that the guards lowered their weapons and stepped aside as the gates were pulled open. Inside, I was greeted by..."Master Oogway?" Master Oogway just smiles. "Welcome to the place above the clouds Tigress. This world is removed from time and exists only for spirits and a few special chosen ones. You are one of the chosen ones, Tigress." "What makes me so special? What have I been chosen for exactly?"  
"I'm afraid I don't have the answers to those questions. You'll have to find the answers for yourself." Suddenly, although wind didn't exist here along with dakness,  
a gust hits me, and knocks me to the ground. Everything goes dark and I try to open my eyes again, only to find they were very heavy. I could feel someone's mouth on mine and air was entering my lungs. My hearing slowly returned as cries of "Tigress" and "are you ok?" got louder and louder. My feeling returned last, although I wish it hadn't, as I could now feel the pain throughout my entire body and a major headache. I forced my eyes open and looked around, taking in my surroundings. Right above me is Po, giving me mouth to mouth. "Where am I?" Everyone heard me speak and rushed forwards, with more voices saying "Are you ok?" All at once it had become too much and was only making my headache worse. "SShhhh. Quiet, please." "Where am I?" I ask again. Po looks down at me, confused. "We are in the training arena, don't you remember?" "Not really." "Well, I kinda hit you into the wall. And then you were knocked out." "I'm really sorry." "It's ok Po, I'm fine." "Are you sure you're ok?" "Po, I said I'm ok." "See, watch." Slowly, I stand up, using the wall to prop myself up. Then, I slowly lean away from the wall so that I'm standing straight up. But as soon as I'm standing, I start to feel a little light headed. I manage to walk a couple of steps forward. Shifu steps forward towards me, "take it easy Tigress, don't try too much too quickly." "You hit that wall very hard, I think you should just lie down for awhile." I look up at Po and Master Shifu. Then, everything starts going blurry. My knees begin straining to hold me up. Everything fades to black as my knees give in to the weight. I collapse down onto my knees. And I start falling towards the ground. Before I hit the ground, I feel someone grab me and stop me from falling. The last thing I hear is, "Tigress". Then my whole body goes limp, I have fainted. Again.

Dream Sequence

I open my eyes to see that everything is once again white. Pure white stretching out for eternity. I have a strange feeling that someone is watching me from behind. Quick as a flash, I turn around, only to find no-one there. Then, when I turn back around, I find Oogway standing there, smiling. I fall over onto my bottom. "I have had vision." I quickly stand up. "In my vision, I see that the Valley of Peace has been destroyed. It was nightfall and flames were burning high from the houses. Villagers running and screaming everywhere as houses were stripped of valuables and set alight. Tigress, you must stop this upcoming threat before the Valley is destroyed beyond repair." "Do you know when the Valley will be attacked?" "It will happen in three weeks and two days." Three weeks and two days exactly..? That's the same day as the Festival. We have to stop this invasion before it happens." "Good luck Tigress." "Goodbye Master Oogway." That feeling of wind picks up and rushes towards me.

End Of Dream Sequence

That feeling of weakness returns once more. My hearing returns first. Everything around me is dead quiet. I open my eyes, the pain in my body seems to have subsided and my headache is gone. Looking around I find that I have been moved into my room. I look over to my left and see Po asleep, curled up into a ball next to my bed. Or as much as a ball as he could manage in the small space that is my floor. I look out my window. Nothing but pitch black and a couple of faint stars. Laying back down on my bed, I close my eyes and fall asleep. This time I have a normal dream without Oogway, but with Po of course. 


	5. Chapter 5

I awaken from a very enjoyable dream when I hear someone open the door to my room and I crack my eyes open slightly. Po is awake and sitting next to my bed, waiting for me to wake up I can only guess. Master Shifu has walked in. "Po, I would like to talk to you in the Hall of Warriors, in private." Master Shifu walks out and off to the Hall. Po looks down, believes that I'm still asleep and leans down to kiss my cheek. Then he gets up and walks out. After Po leaves,  
I hear the door open yet again. "I'm probably the only one who notices this, but when you do something that no-one knows you are, your tail twitches slightly.  
So, I know you're awake Tigress." I sit up and look over at Viper "Stupid tail. How long have I been out?" "You've been unconcious for two days." "How long until the festival?" "The festival is in three weeks from today. Why? Whats so important about the festival? Tigress?" "I need to talk to Master Shifu." "Well you stay here, I'll go get him." As Viper was leaving, Po arrives at the door and walks through into my room. " Thank goodness you're awake. I was getting a little worried." "I'm fine Po. I have been through worse than that before." "So, what did Master Shifu want to talk to you about?" "Oh...He knew about us, and forced me to come clean." "Well, you can expect this won't end well." "No. It won't." Master Shifu had walked in just at that moment. "Uh oh" Po mutters scooting out the door. "I'll be back later." " Viper said you wanted to talk to me about something.." "Yes. While I was unconcious, Master Oogway visited me in a dream amd told me that the Valley will be attacked on the day of the festival." Master Shifu doesn't respond. "Master?" I look over at Master Shifu, and eye is twitching in that Master Shifu way. He eventually snaps out of it and looks up at me. "That's some very bad news." "What will we do Master?" "An invasion in three weeks. "Tigress, I want you to finish the scrolls before the Festival as we had planned. I'll make sure Po doesn't disturb you during your studies. I will have the rest of the five go out and see how much information they can gather on this invasion. And I will train Po as much as I can while we wait." "When can I go study Master?" "As soon as you feel like you can walk around without fainting again." I slowly bring myself to my feet and walk about the room, then I walk out to the Hall of Sacred Warriors to continue studying the scrolls. "990 down, ten to go." I pull out scroll 991 and begin reading. The next three weeks passed in a repeating cycle. I would wake up, eat, study, eat, study then sleep. The rest of the Five left that day and didn't return until a few days before the festival. Master Shifu trained Po hard in stealth, weaponary, etc.. Po managed to pick things up very quickly. When the Five returned, Shifu slowed the lessons to use some time to plan a counter offensive to the invasion. Anytime Po got free he would somehow manage to sneak a snack to me without Master Shifu noticing he had disappeared or without me noticing he had been near.  
Three Days Before The Festival "Master! Master!" I yell as I run around trying to find Master Shifu. I find him finally in the kitchen with Po, Po is cooking something delicious. "I finished the scrolls Master." "And you did it before Tai Lung did. I'm so proud of you Tigress." I couldn't hold back the tears as Master Shifu opened his arms and I knelt down to hug him. We stayed like for a few minutes before letting each other go and getting upto the table. Po served out lunch. "It's your favourite, Tigress." "Thank you Po." At that moment, the rest of the Five came in from training and sat down around the table. "Okay Students." Everyone turns their heads towards Master Shifu. "The invasion is only a few days away. Tigress has finished mastering the 1000 scrolls of kung fu and the rest of you are ready. We will have a few days rest before then."  
"Master, we could just go out and stop the invasion from happening, before it reached the Valley." "Actually, that's not a bad idea. If we leave first thing in the morning, we should be able to get the drop on this enemy. We would have the element of surprise. As we all went to bed later that night I could have sworn I heard something on the roof outside, unfortunately, I dismissed it.  
The Next Morning We all pack up and leave, heading for where we had learnt was the enemy base camp. After a few hours travel, hours for kung fu masters, days for ordinary people, we arrived at the enemy base camp. It was quiet, the bandits must have still been asleep, but its a bit strange that they didn't have any lookouts. We checked a few tents. They were empty. "Master, all the tents are empty." Master shifu's eyes widened in realisation. "It's a trap! They were expecting us." Right at that moment,  
archers revealed themselves from the tress with their arrows pointed straight at us. The leader walks out towards us, confident that we were powerless. Each of us shared a look with Master. A look that said "don't fight". We stood straight, out of our fighting stances. Some bandits came forth and bound all our hands and feet. "Well, well. What do we have here?" The bandit leader said as he was looking at all of us. "Seven Kung Fu masters. This is a high score." Master Shifu spoke for us.  
"What do you want with us? And why are you going to attack the Valley of Peace?" "Well, for your information, I wasn't going to. My scout reported a few weeks ago that there several Kung Fu Masters in the next Valley, and we were going to avoid it altogether. But my scout reported that you were going to come attack us regardless. So, we set up this trap and now that we have you, we may as well raid your valley." I spoke up. "So it was your scout that I heard on the roof last night." Then one of the bandits spoke up, it must have been the scout. "Actually, I saw you were preparing to leave the valley, then I ran back here." "It doesn't matter." Take the prisoners to sperate parts of camp." Then he looked over towards me. "And this pretty little kitty can go to my tent." "You leave her alone." Po yelled. "Well, well. Looks like we've come across two lovers men. All the men laughed. The leader looked straight towards Po. "Don't worry, buddy. I'll be gentle.  
The bandits started to move us about. I was taken to the leader's tent and carefully bound to the bed, arms and legs stretched outwards. They even tied my hands in such a way that I couldn't cut the ropes with my claws. I couldn't see what happened outside of that tent that night. I was emotionally scarred from what happened that night. In the morning, the army of bandits packed up their camp, and left us all tied to seperate trees after leaving towards the Valley. We were tied there for a couple of hours, until an archer walked up to Master Shifu. He was wearing a cloak with a hood and a mask. Readying his bow and drawing an arrow, the stranger aimed his weapon straight at Master Shifu.

Oh no.. What's going to happen to Master Shifu. Oh that's right, I know what's gonna happen. But you, my awesome readers, will have to wait for the next chapter.  
I was rewriting this story to follow the events of the original, but I realised I could make it better. So from here the storyline will change, ultimately tieing in with Guardians: Black Tortoise. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Leave him alone" Po yelled from a tree opposite Master Shifu. The stranger didn't even acknowledge that Po had spoken, and instead pulled back the string of the bow.  
All Master Shifu could do was close his eyes and wait for the end. We all closed our eyes, so I didn't see it happen, but when we heard a thud we all looked to see an arrow embedded in the tree and the ropes holdind Master Shifu's hands were cut, allowing Master Shifu to release himself. Everyone looked towards the stranger, who didn't say anything and instead turned and ran off towards the Valley. Master Shifu untied Po, then went to untie the others while Po came to untie me. "I..I'm..s..  
sorry Po. I couldn't stop him. H..He.." "It's alright Tigress. It wasn't your fault, it was his fault. And he will pay for what he did, in this life or the next.  
Master Shifu gathered the other Masters. "I can't believe I did it again." "What are you talking about Master?" "One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. Master Oogway told me this when I sent Zeng to Chor Gom prison to stop Tai Lung from escaping, but that resulted in Tai Lung escaping. And now if I hadn't tried to prevent this invasion, then it wouldn't have happened. The Valley will be destroyed and it's all my fault." "No." everyone looked to Po. "You're wrong Master.  
You wanted to stop the Valley from being destroyed, this is their fault and you can still stop it from happening, if you leave now." Master Shifu smiled. "Everyone, let's go." "I'm going to stay behind with Tigress and we will meet you at the Valley after you stop this threat. Master Shifu and the others set off towards the Valley,  
and Po picked me up bridal style and began carrying me back to the Valley. When we arrived the next day after many starts and stops of running and resting, we saw the last thing we would have expected. As we neared the entrance to the Valley, we saw many bodies of bandits. The entire army seemed to be there. Master Shifu and the others were there looking at all the bodies in shock and awe. And up ahead was a figure tied to a tree trunk. "Hello? Can you help me? I was attacked and left here to die by some bandits. Po and I rounded the tree, followed by the Masters, to come face to face with the figure, with me still in Po's arms. When we came face to face, our faces were filled with anger and his with fear and worry. The figure tied to the tree was the bandit leader. "Please have mercy. Forgive me, I beg you." Po laid me down on the ground, where I couldn't see what was happening. The others all looked away, knowing what was on Po's mind. All I could hear was the leader screaming, and then muffled cries before silence. I waited for Po and he came back around to me and picked me up, continuing through the entrance. The Valley was fine, with no sign of trouble anywhere. We all saw the stranger standing by one of the buildings talking to some of the villagers, in a friendly manner. He turned and saw us looking at him, he turned back and walkled away, headed towards the staircase of 1000 steps. Sensing no trouble, we took the longer secret route to the Jade Palace. It was nightfall when we arrived at the gates of the Palace. We got a shock when we met the stranger in the kitchen cooking a dinner for all of us. With a deep voice that was clearly meant to hide his true voice, he asked for us to sit and try his food. We all took a seat at the table and were served the soup he had cooked. Before anyone ate any, Master Shifu spoke to the stranger. "I must ask that you reveal your identity." "Of course. But I beg you to give me a chance to explain myself before you make up your minds about me." "We will listen to what you have to say." Then the stranger reached his hands up and, in one swift movement, pulled down his hood and mask to reveal his true identity. Everyone looked at him with dropped jaws. "How?" I'm not sure who had said that, not that it mattered, it's what everyone was thinking. "After that fight in the village and Po used the Wuxi Finger Hold on me, I was blown far away, far far away to the base of a mountain. I fell asleep quickly, sure that I wouldn't awaken again. But in my dream, I was visited by Master Oogway." The story was interupted by a collection of "wows" and "no way" from Mantis. "He told me that if I wanted to survive, I would have to climb to the top of the mountain. So, with no other choice, I began climbing the mountain. Many times I believed myself insane,  
but each time I convinced myself to keep going. Eventually, I made it to the mountain's peak and instead of finding snow and rock, I saw small pond with some trees. It hadn't been touched by anyone, I drank from the pond and the water felt more like energy and life was flowing into me. I feel asleep again, and when I awoke the next morning, all my cuts and injuries had mysteriously healed. I spent about a week at the top of that mountain, wondering what to do with my life now that knew I wasn't meant to be the Dragon Warrior. I made my way down the mountain and headed back towards the Valley of Peace, stopping at different towns and learning some new things,  
like cooking soup. By the time I had made it back to the Valley, a month had passed since everyone thought I had died. Over the next three weeks, I gained most of the villagers trust individual by individual. When they all trusted me, I came to the Jade Palace and was on the roof a few nights back listening to the plans to confront the invasion, I knew I had to help you. As I was about to leave, I kicked a loose tile. I thought someone would have heard it, but nothing happened. So when you all left, I followed from a safe distance, and watched you get captured. I had to wait until the bandits had left before I stepped forth and revealed myself." "So that's yous story. But what are you doing here now?" "I was hoping I could come home Master. I have seen the error of what I have done. Please forgive me." "You don't have to ask my forgiveness.." Master Shifu turns to the rest of us. "You need their forgiveness." I spoke up before the others had a chance. "You'll have to earn our forgiveness Tai Lung." Everyone agreed with me. There was a long silence, so Po decided to speak up. "The festival is tommorow night. Are we allowed to go, Master?"  
Master Shifu looked at Po's hopeful face. "Of course you can. I mean we did just save the Valley of Peace from being destroyed..again." Everyone looked at Tai Lung and laughed. They all seemed to trust him easily, but it'll take something huge to get my trust.  
Tommorow Night-The Festival "Are you ready Tigress?" "Just a minute Po" I had spent the whole day being dragged around the village by Viper, who had somehow convinced me to go with Po to the Festival and that I would need a new dress. It was now nighttime and the Festival would begin soon. I step out of Viper's room, wearing my new dress, a red silk dress with golden edges and a golden dragon embroidered on the right side. Po had also gotten dressed up. He bought new shorts, black ones, he got a black silk shirt and a black jacket with a red dragon on the back. While we were down in the village, Po went by a friends of his, a carpenter, who is extremely skilled. He is the one who built the action figures of us that Po has collected, and he had a new release; a Tai Lung action figure. "Po. Why do you want another doll?" Po looks at me with a slightly annoyed look. "Tigress, They're not dolls, they're action figures. And they are pure awesomeness. Not like you though." Po smiled and blushed at me as he said that. I just hugged him and gave him a kiss, which was seen and awed at by surrounding villagers. We enjoyed the Festival that night, up until I ruined it by throwing up. Po took me straight back to the Palace after that. Master Shifu checked me once we were in private and reaised what was wrong... I was pregnant.

Uh-oh. Who's the father? Find out in the next chapter. 


	7. Chapter 7

"Pregnant? Are you sure?" All Master Shifu could do was nod, with a sad expression etched in his face. I broke into tears and collapsed onto my knees. Master Shifu was quick to pull me into a hug. Po had heard from outside the door and came in lightning fast and dropped down to hug me also. "It's going to be okay Tigress. This child might not have planned or wanted, but it is going to have the best mum in the world." I look up at Po and smile through my tears. "And the greatest dad." The next few weeks got harder and harder. First, Master Shifu forbade me from training. I have never not trained and it is extremely boring. Soon after that, I had to just lay in bed all day, just when I thought it couldn't get any more boring. The mood swings kicked in, and even Master Shifu decided to avoid me as much as possible.  
Po was either very brave or very stupid. Everytime he came in he didn't appear afraid of me, although he only stayed long enough to give me a bowl of food. That cycle continued for many months, lucky for us, there was no invasions or dangers heading towards the Valley for my entire pregnancy. Finally, my water broke and I was taken to the hospital, to the relief of the other Masters. Po stayed with me as long as he could and we discussed baby names. I decided to wait until the baby was born,  
to give it a name. The baby came that day, it wasn't early or late. Master Shifu, Tai Lung and the rest of the Five hurried down to the hospital as soon as they heard that the baby was being born. Po was in the corner watching the child be born. Both Po and I, mostly me, were devastated when the baby was born silent. All the doctors and nurses' faces fell. "What? What is it? Whats wrong? Where's my baby?" After a short silence, the lead doctor turned to me. Just looking at his face, I knew what had happened. "It was stillborn." I had never cried harder in my entire life, it got worse when I held her and saw she wasn't the child of the bandit, but of Po and I.  
A black and white tigress. News reached the other Masters quickly, and Tai Lung was the first to arrive at my room. Moving quickly, he strode over to my bedside and pulled a small vial from around his neck. He poured it into the mouth of the baby and we all waited for something to happen. After a few minutes of nothing, I buried my face in Po's chest again as he looked away. All of a sudden, we heard a small cough then crying. We all turned to face the baby and saw that was now alive. I began crying again, only this time they were tears of joy. Master Shifu and the others finally walked into the room and saw the baby very much alive. But the question on all their minds was.."Why doesn't she look at all like the bandit?" I smiled a true straight smile for the first time that day. "Because he's not the father, Po is."  
Everyone seemed unable to speak, except Master Shifu. "When did this happen?" He was glaring at Po. Po suddenly couldn't find his voice. "It was the night before we left for the enemy camp. After everyone was asleep, I went for a walk to a certain pandas room." Shifu held his glare a bit longer, then just smiled. "At least its not the baby of that horrible man." Finally Viper spoke. "So? What's her name?" I looked at Po and back to everyone else. "Everyone. Meet Sumita Ping." Everyone took turns in giving me a hug and holding Sumita. When it came Tai Lung's turn, I whispered in his ear. "I forgive you." After everyone had held the baby, I learnt I had to stay for a few more days. And just when I thought I could get out of here.  
Days Later "So you're finally leaving the hospital. You must be excited to finally be able to something." Po had come to help me pack up all the things in my room. After the long walk back up the steps, with Po shiedling Sumita and I from the sun, or most of it, we put Sumita down to rest in our new room. The wall between Po's and Crane's rooms had been pulled down, with Crane moving into my old room. Po and I now had a double sized room, with a cot constructed free of charge by Po's carpenter friend. There is also a double-sized bed in our room. Master Shifu looked up at Po and I. "I'm still unhappy about that double bed." Everyone looks down at Shifu and laughs. Life was great. I had a beautiful daughter. A loving boyfriend. Tai Lung was good again. And the Valley of Peace wasn't in danger. What more could I ask for?

Well that's the end of this story. I hope you all enjoyed "One Month Later". Up next is the epilogue and then I will continue on the sequel series, Guardians. 


	8. Chapter 8

10 years later Sumita's P.O.V.  
"Happy tenth birthday, sweetie" "Thanks mum." Everyone was gathered around the table at the Ping resturant. My mum, the current record holder for "Youngest Person to Master the 1000 Scrolls of Kung Fu" and leader of the Furious Five, Master Tigress. My dad, the Dragon Warrior, Master of the Dragon Style and su chef in "Ping's Noodle Resturant", Po. My granddad on my father's side, head chef in "Ping's Noodle Resturant", Mr. Ping. My granddad on my mother's side, the greatest Kung Fu teacher in all of China and the adoptive father to the only two people ever to master the 1000 scrolls of Kung Fu, Tigress and Tai Lung, Master Shifu. My only true uncle, altough I would never say that to my other self-proclaimed aunty and uncles, the first to master the 1000 scrolls of Kung Fu and the new Grand Master, Uncle Tai Lung. And the other members of the Furious Five, masters of their own styles, Aunty Viper, Uncle Crane, Uncle Monkey and Uncle Mantis. Everyone in my family is as successful as they can be in their chosen lifestyles. I wish I could be someone important in my own right, not just the daughter of the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress. Everyone reached the end of the birthday song and I blew out my candles, shouting that wish over and over in my head. Little did I know, the universe had plans for me and they were put in work from the day I was born. The rest of the day went by in a joyous mood. Everyone had cake and lots of other party food. As the sky started to turn dark, everyone started to head home. Not long after I was born, mum decided that it was time the Furious Five finally disbanded, with the new Grand Master of the Jade Palace watching over the Valley of Peace. They all agreed and moved away to their old homes to find their own destiny. Aunty Viper was welcomed home with open arms, well, sort of, and is expected to become the new village protector when her father retires. Uncle Crane went back to his old home and was welcomed by his old friend, Mei Ling, who is now head of the Lee Da Academy. He was given his old job back as a janitor, but he still helps out with the new students from time to time. Uncle Mantis and Uncle Monkey returned to their own villages and opened up new Kung Fu schools to teach the next generation. Mum and dad moved from the Jade Palace down into the village and bought a house near "Ping's Noodle Resturant". Uncle Tai still lives up in the Jade Palace with Granddad Shifu and is learning how to look after the Palace and the Valley, on top of teaching kung fu to new students. Granddad Shifu has retired from teaching Kung Fu and is helping Uncle Tai with the new students. Granddad Ping and dad started packing up all the dishes, while mum and I said goodbye to Uncle Tai and Granddad Shifu. Once evryone was gone, and dad had packed up most of the mess, mum and I headed home. I went to bed not long after we got home, but I just couldn't fall asleep. It about an hour maybe, when I heard the front door open and close; dad has come home finally. I close my eyes this time and finally fall asleep. I had a normal sleep, I didn't appreciate it as much as I could have. If I had known what tommorow and the next half a dozen years would entail, I would have appreciated that sleep a little more.  
Tigress P.O.V.  
Today was my daugthers tenth birthday, I met my old comrades in arms, Viper, Mantis, Crane and Monkey, and my father and step brother Shifu and Tai Lung. We all had a good time. Everyone enjoyed the party, all except Sumita herself. I think there may be something bothering her. When everyone had left, and Master Shifu and Tai Lung were leaving, Sumita and I were saying our goodbyes while Po and Mr. Ping were cleaning up. It has been ten years since the Valley was in danger and we have had a wonderful era of peace. But, like they say, all good things must come to an end. Why it had to be on my daughters birthday of all days. I knew eventually that the Valley would be in danger once more, but at the same time, I just wanted it to stay peaceful forever. But later that night, while I was asleep, I was taken to a place all too familiar, the place above the clouds. Where Master Oogway took me ten years ago to warn me about the invasion.

Dream Sequence

I open my eyes and find that I'm back in the Cloud Palace, looking down through one of the overly large windows of the castle and all I can see is cloud. Looking around the "ground", I see the very tip of what must be a mountain. "That must mean it's possible to.." "Master Tigress, he is waiting for you." I turned from the window to find a palace attendent. "Thank you." The attendent turns and begins walking away, I follow him to Master Oogway. After roughly five minutes of walking, I arrived at a giant door. The attendent signalled for me to stop as he walked forward and knocked on the door in a thought out pattern, like a secret code. Immediately, the door began to open. "Please. Continue inside." I walked through the door, looking back I saw the attendent just standing at the door facing down the hallway. As soon as I was in the giant room, the doors began to close. I made it to the front of the room where I finally saw Master Oogway. "Master oogway. Why didn't you just appear where I woke up here like last time?" "I needed you to come to this room to show you something terrible." "The Valley has four Kung Fu Masters, plus the Furious Five will be able to help." "Tigress. This isn't just about the Valley of Peace. This about the fate of the entire world. It will take more than mere mortal strength. This threat is not an army of bandits or anything you have faced before. This is evil itself, in it's true form. There are only four people who can stop this darkness. Have you ever heard of the Four Guardians?" "No, Master. I have not. Who are they?" "The Four Guardians are the protectors of the entire universe. They were sent from the Heavens to earth to put an end to the darkness many centuries ago, now they are needed again and so have been reborn in your world. I need you to find these people and have them trained to use their powers over the elements to rid the world of darkness once and for all. You and Po must travel far, from here in the Western Valley, Home of Byakko,  
to the other Valleys. Once you find the Guardians, they must be trained to control their powers. The darkness will rise in the hearts of anyone, everyone you know will be tested. You must leave first thing in the morning." The palace starts to fade to white. "How will I recognise the Guardians?" "They are one of a kind. They will be the only one of their kind in your world." The entire palace had turned to white, and slowly Master Oogway faded into whiteness.

End of Dream Sequence

I awoke suddenly, I feel Po stir. Then he opens his eyes and looks up at me. "Is something wrong?" "Po...we need to travel to the Northern Valley of Tranquility." 


End file.
